Driving up along the winding roads high into the hills above Reichsfeld, it feels as though you are entering a different Alsace.
Surrounded by forest, the small hamlet of Taubental sits about four hundred metres above sea level in the shadow of the Vosges. A world away from the monoculture that blights the region’s famous wine villages, it offers a more pastoral setting. Here, the vines share the landscape with meadows, horses and herds of goats, and each time we visit it offers a breath of fresh air.
Jeanne Gaston-Breton began caring for her family’s farm in 2017 and immediately undertook the conversion of their seven hectares of vines to organic farming and later, biodynamics. She works alongside her mother in the vines, where they focus on soil health and harnessing the incredible biodiversity present in this forgotten pocket of Alsace. The old vines of Auxerrois, Sylvaner, Riesling and Pinot Noir are planted over three distinct terroirs: clay & limestone, sandstone of volcanic origin, and schist.
The majority of the grapes they grow are sold to friends including talented vignerons such as Benoit Rosenberger and Yannick Meckert, but since our first visit several years ago, Jeanne has begun saving a little more from each harvest for herself. In her tiny cellar, she displays a great sensibility and real lightness of touch, working with the simplest of tools and nothing but gravity to produce delicate, nuanced and achingly pure wines which carry a wonderful sense of place.